Madonna shifts base from US to Portugal to help son’s football dreams

Iconic pop star Madonna has moved to Lisbon so her 11-year-old son David can join the youth academy at top football club Benfica, local media in Portugal reported yesterday, according to a AFP report.

“Madonna is no longer a tourist, she now lives in Lisbon,” the weekly magazine Visao said. Madonna, 59, has been staying in a Lisbon hotel after buying a house in the bucolic village of Sintra, 30 kilometres northwest of the Portuguese capital.

The 19th century building was put up for sale for 7.5 million euros ($9 million) and could take about six months to renovate, according to Visao. David Banda, who Madonna adopted from Malawi in 2006, has joined the Benfica training centre in the Lisbon suburb of Seixal, Correio da Manha reported.

The club accepted the boy after his first test in the spring and he will stay at the academy until he starts the school year at a French high school in Lisbon, Correio da Manha said, citing a source close to Benfica.